Shafer Days; train rides

I just looked at the seven day forecast and it looks like the weather will be perfect for Shafer Days. A little cool in the mornings but then warming up nicely. Shafer Days is three days long beginning with the Royalty Coronation tonight at the Shafer creamery. Tomorrow there is community Bingo also being held in the Creamery. Later that night, Uncle Chunk will be playing at the Big Game Bar and Grill. On Saturday, get up early and let the Shafer firemen feed you breakfast. Beginning at 7 a.m., they will be serving up hot cakes and eggs in the fire hall. If you like scavenger hunts, you will love searching for the missing clog. Find it and you will be $100 richer. There is a great car show along with a smash-a-car that will take place in downtown Shafer.

The Shafer City Bank will be getting robbed at 2 p.m.. It is not every day you can say that with certainty. There is a great tractor pull that begins at noon on Regal Avenue. Bring your lawn chairs for the annual Shafer Days parade. It will make its way down Mainstreet at 4 p.m. Finally, the Shafer Fire Department would like to invite you to their annual street dance. Stooge is the headliner this year. Plenty to do in Shafer, come on out and have some fun. + + + + + + +  Did you happen to make it to the Wildcat Homecoming game on Friday? From the looks of it, most people did. I haven’t seen a crowd like that since the stadium opened. What a game we were treated to. The Wildcats easily defeated St. Francis on a beautiful Friday night. Coach Weiss really has this team playing well. The boys will be away to Benilde St. Margaret and Spring Lake Park the next few Fridays, but will return home to face Irondale on October 17.

I encourage you and your family to come out and cheer a new breed of Wildcat football. This team is exciting and really airs the football out. One other item about the game last Friday. The Gridiron Club, which many of you know as the great people that host the brat feeds prior to all home games, paid for a fireworks show after the game. Last year, we had to leave early and didn’t happen to catch the show. We made a point of staying after the game, and I am glad we did. The fireworks show was amazing. I fully expected a quick five minute show, but what we got was as good or better than some of our town celebrations. It went on forever and even featured fireworks I had never seen before. Thank you to the Gridiron Club for a wonderful night and congratulations to the Wildcats for yet another great win. Keep it up! The North Branch Vikings will have their Homecoming this Friday. They will play Fridley at 7 p.m. tomorrow (October 5). Best of luck to the Vikings!

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Wow did I get the business for my column last week about drinking the Kool-Aid and road construction. But, as of today, downtown Lindstrom has a completely different look than it has the last three months or more. There is a finished road (it’s strictly a look but don’t touch road at this point) that meanders through downtown. There are sidewalks that are not done, but we are starting to get the idea of just how large they will be. Sprinkle in some trees and some park benches and suddenly this town is building a little bit of an image. I know businesses are struggling right now, I am one of those. But the end is in sight. Hopefully with a happy ending for all of us.

If you have been so kind as to support our local businesses, not just Lindstrom but the whole Chisago Lakes corridor, thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. If you just haven’t happened to have the time to spend locally, but have been meaning to, please do so soon. I feel like we are on the apex with all of the construction. getting ready to start the descent. Now is the time we businesses need you most. It has been absolutely anything besides fun, but for the most part, we have survived. We need one last big push from you. You can do it!

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The Iron Horse Railroad held its annual Hobo Days last week.  Eric Thompson said it was a huge success. Over 400 people attended the festival. If you missed Hobo Days and would like to see the trains, you are in luck. This Saturday they are hosting a Leaf Spectacular event. There will be train rides, a petting zoo, pumpkins, antiques and a museum. The leaves are absolutely perfect colors right now, so come on out and see them on a train. Again, they ask you to bring a non-perishable food item and receive a dollar off admission. Last week they took in 159 cans of food!